


Mabari Hearts

by dropstitchwitch, scooterpiety



Series: The Kirkwall Chronicles [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-05-30 05:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6410845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dropstitchwitch/pseuds/dropstitchwitch, https://archiveofourown.org/users/scooterpiety/pseuds/scooterpiety
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fresh start, and a new beginning for two kindred souls. Can they move beyond their personal issues to seize the opportunity for happines? Or will they fall to old habits and break apart?<br/>I suck at summaries.<br/>Modern AU, magic is a thing still.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First thing I've posted in a long time, comments and criticism welcome. Find me on Tumblr under the same screenname.  
> Rating may go up depending on how brave I get.

**Mabari Hearts**

**Chapter One**

 

Rain poured down on the Kirkwall streets, leaning against the window jam of her new apartment Evelyn sighed. A fresh start is what her therapist had said. She could no longer do the work that had filled her life for the last 10 years, she needed to find something else to fill the time - a task that would be easier without daily reminders what the life she left behind in Haven. Kirkwall hadn't been a random choice, work hadnt brought her here so there would be no familiar faces. No one to remember what she had been in a previous life. She rubbed absentmindedly at the stub remained of left arm. No reminders of what she used to be capable of.

_Magic crackled around the room, lightening crawling over the walls bathing the room in a pale blue light. Evie cursed, crouched down behind what had been a server rack but was no naught but a tangled knot. She pressed the talk button on the ear piece and growled. "Damn it Josie, I thought this floor had already been cleared!" Frantic typing on the other end of the conection indicated Josie's presence._  
_"It was! I'm looking for details now Evie. Alright, … fuck Evie you need to get out - now. Agent Cadash just reported a rift opening. Code Green - Nightmare demon coming through." Evie cursed, a flash of purple indicating that a necromancer had joined the fray._  
_"Cadash isn't a mage Josie, he won't be able to close the rift." Evie switched channels and could hear Cadash's argument with his own Inquisition analyst. "Edric! Evie here, I'm a floor below you by the stairs, are they clear on your side?" There was a grunt and some cursing._  
_"Damn good to hear your voice girl, Adaar is holding the stairs and she'll keep them clear for you. Get up here."_  
_"Over and out short stuff" Evie flicked her headset off, and spun around, rising just enough to lift and aim her gun. The gun fire drove the Venatori mages for cover, she used the opening to dash for the stairs, hissing when a fireball singed her side. Reaching the stairs she spun, the focus glove on her left arm flaring to life as she cast a barrier spell. She left the mages below, they'd break through eventually but they'd find Adaar waiting for them._

Evie groaned and pushed away from the window, so far her therapist had been wrong. The new city had simply left her with nothing to do but remember things best left forgotten.

There was a buzzing from the table in the kitchen, Evie turned to find the screen on her phone lit up, a quick walk showed that it was her mother calling. With a determination she did not feel Evie silenced the call and walked out of her apartment. Umbrella held in her remaining hand she walked down the street, looking for somthing to do - anything to avoid the memories and a conversation with her mother urging her to come home so they could take care of her. She was not broken. She wasnt, despite what the soft voice in her mind seemd to whisper.

 

* * *

 

This early in the evening the bar was empty, the ancient wood floors were clean, chairs still rested on top of the chairs. The last rays of sunlight shone through the high windows, making the Hanged Man look like a nearly respectable establishment. Cullen smirked at the thought, knowing full well the bars owner, his boss and well connected 'business man' Varric Tethras as currently meeting with Detective Pentagast. Shaking his head Cullen whistled and walked to the end of the bar, tossing the rag he'd been wiping glasses with into a basket.  
"Recruit, you need a walk?" The Mabari who had been sleeping at the end of the bar barked, lumbering to his feet and shaking - causing his service vest to rustle.  
Cullen couldnt help but smile as he patted Recruit's head, he'd scoffed at the idea of needing a service dog at first, but his eldest sister had insisted. Mia had pleaded with him, stressing her worry about him living alone. She'd even outreached to his therapist, Ellana, and he had come to his next session to find the application for a service dog filled out and ready for his signature.  
Thinking of his therapist only stirred emotions he needed to move past, especially if he wanted to continue to see her as a client. He shook his head as Recruit headbutted his leg, his leash already in his mouth. Cullen laughed. "Yeah, I'm over thinking again. Come on"  
A brief moment let him text Varric that he was taking Recruit for a walk, better to text him and not interrupt an important negotiation, and get the leash hooked onto Recruits harness. Soon enough he was heading out into the streets, more at easy with the noise and bustle than he'd been in a long time. Recruit at his side, things didn't look so bad - not where he'd envisioned himself 10 years ago true, but very little in his life had turned out the way he had imagined. He stopped suddenly, taken aback by how he had reacted to that thought, no overpowering sense of dread - heavy weighted thoughts of what could go wrong. Just acceptance of the obvious truth of it, worry was there true, but it was a fleeting and feeble thing. Something he could easily tamp out. A grin plastered on his face he made his way back towards the bar, not even dealing with drunks all night could bring him down right now.  
  
He'd spoken too soon apparently, the night had turned into a nightmare. Broken bottles, fights, the works. Cullen rubbed his temples leaning against the bar as he watched the staff move about the crowded room with practiced ease. Food going to the right tables, drinks being poured and mixed in quick order. He was about to head to the back room to ensure they had enough supplies for the following day when Varric sauntered up, hand slapping on the bar surface as he hopped up into a stool.  
"Curly, thought your shift ended two hours ago?" Cullen opened his mouth to respond by Varric laughed and leaned forward. "I know what you're going to say. Something abut ensuring we run smoothly tomorrow, constant vigilance or some other excuse to work yourself ragged. Go home man, and I dont want to see you back until Monday night. I'll sick your sister on you if you dont listen to me." Varric grinned at his employee, "She called and yelled at me the other week for working you too hard, was going to call the labor board since I obviously never gave you any time off." Cullen groaned, imagining his eldest sister doing exacty that.  
"Maker, I am sorry Varric, I'll talk to her-" Varric cut Cullen off holding up his hand  
"Its ok, she isnt the only one who worries about you Curly. Fuck, when was the last time you did something other than work - and no, wicked grace nights do not count. I have to tell you they're mandatory to your position to get you to show up. Seriously man, you're still young - go out and live a little." Cullen flushed, hand flying to the back of his neck as he stammered excuses for his lack of a social life. Varric shook his head. "At least take Recruit out to the dog park or something."  
Cullen watched his boss leave, running a hand through his hair he laughed. It would be nice to have a few days to relax, and it would get his sister off his back for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, my Mom passed suddenly and that threw everything else to the back burner.   
> Enjoy the next chapter!

"Either you come here for Satinalia Cullen Staton Rutherford or I swear to the Maker I will come to Kirkwall myself. I'll bring Branson and Rosalie and their families with me too." Cullen sighed, rubbing his temple while his sister continued to rant. When she finally paused for a breath he jumped in.   
"Mia, I said yes." There was a stunned silence while Mia went back over their conversation.  
"Oh, well good. Will you bringing anyone with you? Or are you still single? Oooh I'll invite some of the girls from my office office for a holiday party! They're all really nice, I'm sure you'll like one of them" Cullen rolled his eyes, knowing better than to interrupt his sister he let her ramble on, making non-commital noises at appropriate times. When he finally got off the phone,*Maker, nearly an hour on the phone*, he breathed a sigh of relief. He loved his sister, but she was ... loud.   
Putting the phone done he stopped, looking around his room, realizing suddenly he had nothing to do. He couldn't remember the last time he had time off without something specific planned. He looked to Recruit who was laying on his back, tongue lolling. The dog whined, looking pitifully up at Cullen. Shaking his head Cullen snagged the leash from its hook on the wall and headed out into the hallway, Recruit on his heels. Slipping his room keys back into his pocket he made his way downstairs. In the front room he heard the tv, a reporter talking from the floor of a Seth Amladaris rally.   
Cullen leaned against the door way to the front room, Thom Blackwall - his landlord and owner of Griffon House - was cursing at the television.  
"Smarmy asshole" The bear of a man grumbled, Cullen couldn't help a laugh.  
"I don't think they can hear you Thom" Recruit barked in agreement. Thom turned on the couch, looking over his shoulder.   
"Please don't tell me your a supporter of this cocksucker" Thom jerked his thumb towards the TV, which was showing the latest poll results for the Vicount race, which the aforementioned cocksucker, Seth Amladaris was apparently winning. Cullen made a face.   
"Sweet Maker no" Thom nodded in approval and sat back down.  
"Good." Thom looked at him warely over his shoulder. "Don't you normally work Sunday nights?" He ran this halfway house; He'd seen many young men walk through it's doors and end up falling back into their addiction, ruining their chances for a future. He relaxed when Cullen laughed, one hand resting on the head of his giant rescue Mabari.   
"Boss kicked me out, said I'd been working too hard and ordered me to take a day off. Don't know what to do so I'm going to take Recruit for a walk." Thom grinned, happy for his charge. For someone who just a scant year ago barely wanted to leave the house this was huge, going out simply because he had nothing else to do? It was a very good sign. Thom nodded.  
"Have a good time then, remember house curfew is 10pm, since you're not working you don't get a pass on that tonight." Cullen nodded and made his good-byes, pausing to clip the leash on to Recruits collar before he headed outside. Thom watched him go, a thoughtful look on his face - he was doing good, it might be time for a push. Thom stood and made his way to the small office he used to run Griffon's House, he'd contact Cullen's caseworker and arrange a meeting.

***  
Entering the therapist's office Evelyn moved her travel coffee mug to her left hand to sign-in for her appointment, only to have the mug tumble to the ground as she forgot to trigger the runes that would make the hand clench shut. She cursed - loudly. Face flushing in shame - both at the mess she'd made, as well as the curse she'd let out. Dropping the pen, she knelt and started to try and pick up the mess, mug righted to prevent anymore coffee from spilling she dug in her bag for napkins to sop up the mess. The secretary rushed around the desk. Motioning her away.   
"Oh poor dear, go take a seat I'll take care of this mess. No problem at all." The secretary already had a towel in hand to clean it up. Evelyn backed up, biting her tongue to keep from lashing out at the older woman. Sitting on the edge of a chair, Evelyn talked silently to herself.   
'she only wanted to help, you can't be angry with her for your mistake. No, for your accident. This is still new, you're not used to the prothetic yet, it will take time' Ignoring the looks from other patients in the waiting room, pittying looks her mind screamed, she stared at her phone and tried not to cry. Thankfully she didn't have long to wait, a soft lilting voice called out her name after a few minutes. Evelyn smiled nervously at the short elvhen woman that stood by one of the side doors, vallaslin gently traced her cheek bones and around her eyes. Evelyn took the extended hand and shook, relaxing at the bright smile the woman gave her.   
"Hello Evelyn, I'm Dr. Ellana Lavellan, come on in." Evelyn followed Dr. Lavellan, eventually entering a small but tidy office, curtains open letting in lots of light through the large window on the far wall. Plants lined the top of book shelves, paintings on the wall, it was a cozy room Evelyn decided as she set her things down in one of the empty chairs across the desk from where Dr. Lavellan was now sitting.   
"Call me Evie by the way," Evie grinned softly, relaxed enough to try for a joke. "Anytime someone calls me Evelyn I think I'm in trouble." Ellana chuckled and leaned back in her chair. Laptop closed, notebook open, but pen set aside she looked straight in Evie's eyes.   
"So, Evie, besides the obvious frustrations I'm sure you've been dealing with." Dr. Lavellan nodded to the prothetic arm Evie wore. "How have you been doing?" Evie blinked, staring at the doctor for a bit.   
"You know, I think you're the first person who asked how I was doing and not how I was dealing without the arm." She sighed, shifting in her chair. "Overall? Okay I guess, I mean I get up and get things done - the loss of the arm hasn't been a huge hit to my ability to care for myself. Can't lie it sucks, but the prothesetic I got is awesome, and when I remember to use the runes that control it it helps a lot." Evie trailed off, not sure how to explain what she was feeling. Ellana smiled encouragingly.  
"How do you feel about your retirement?" Evie's face fell at the question, emotions welling up quickly.   
"Useless. I mean, when I recovered enough I returned to work - and they assigned me tasks. Everyone acted like everything was normal, and so did I. Only it wasn't; I didn't do a bad job with my missions but I wasn't as good as I used to be. I started getting fewer and fewer missions - more paperwork and easy tasks. No one wanted to say anything, but I knew I wasn't pulling my weight anymore. Finally my Boss suggested I move to the Agent support team, that my experience in the field would be an asset. I couldn't do it though, it would be like having what I couldn't do anymore rubbed in my face every day. I retired instead. I thought that maybe I could move on - that things would be better after that."  
"Where they?" Evie laughed bitterly at , relaxing a bit in her chair.   
"Fuck no. Things went from bad to worse." Evie pushed back her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ears. "I'd been dating this guy for a while at this point, it was a work relationship. Different departments, but still not something that would have gone over well if it was found out. So it'd been all hush hush between us, I had thought that after I retired we'd be more open about it. That we'd start acting more like a couple ya know? Staying the night with one another, going to dinner. Normal stuff. He disagreed. Didn't want to date me, I was just 'stress relief' to him. And since I wasnt in the office anyore I wasn't convient enough for stress relief anyway."   
"That'd be hard to handle at any time, how did you handle it with everything else that was going on?"  
"Not well. My normal method to deal with stress in my personal life is to take extra missions at work - to work out my anger and frustration."  
"Only you didn't have work to turn to anymore" Ellana interjected, scribbling a note down. Evie nodded.   
"Exactly. I started taking out my frustrations and anger out on my liver. Drank way too much, way too often. I never had that many friends, focused on work too much honestly. Thankfully my brother - who's the polor opposite of me - has a bunch of friends. Some of those friends kept an eye on me, Haven is a small city compared to Kirkwall, tiny really despite being the headquarters of the Inquisition, so most of the bars I frequented were the same ones that my brother had when he lived there, his friends made sure I got home safe. And after a while they called him, told him what I was doing." Evie smiled, thinking of Maxwell fondly.   
"What did he do when he found out?" Evie chuckled softly at the question, shifting forward in the chair.   
"He flew into Haven like a whirlwind. I woke up one afternoon, head pounding to find him sitting next to my bed. He was livid with me, I hadn't spoke with anyone in the family about what was going on. That I'd retired, that Raleigh - the guy I thought I'd been seeing - had been using me. None of it, so he made a point of telling our parents and inviting them down to Haven while I was passed out drunk." Evie cringed, remembering when her folks had shown up a few days later, her little sister in tow with the newest members of her brood. "I went from wallowing in self-pity, all alone to having a full house including a set of 2 year old twins. I was so mad at the time, but without them all showing up I'd probably still be drowning myself in booze each night." There was a soft chime from Ellana's laptop. The therapist opened the lid, and dismissed the alarm before turning back to Evie.   
"I'm glad you have support, it's vital to have people you can trust." Ellana reached into a desk drawer and grabbed a business card, she scribbled two numbers on the back then handed it to Evie. "The top number is my cell phone, call or text me anytime if you need me. I'm here to help you, but I can only help if you reach out to me. The second number is for one of my other patients, I like to set up a buddy system with my patients. You don't have to participate but if you need someone to talk to, someone to complain about how much everything sucks to - someone to tell you that you can do this, call or text Sera. She's knows she's next on my list of buddy volunteers so she won't be surprised. I'd really like you to talk to her if possible, you're new to the city, having someone to show you around will give you something to focus on besides the past." Evie took the card, reading the neatly written numbers before sliding it into her purse. She nodded and stood with Ellana, shaking the therapist hand. They set a date for the next appointment and before she knew it she was walking towards the bus stop, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. Things seemed possible right now, the feeling of looming dread was distant. With a spring in her step she headed home.   
  
  



End file.
